*United States, For the Use of Ramona Equipment Rental, Inc. dba One Stop Equipment Rental & Sales v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., et al. (District of New Mexico) and United States, For the Use of Ramona Equipment Rental, Inc. v. Carolina Casualty Insurance Co., et al. (Southern District of California) -- Lawsuits brought under the Miller Act related to the construction of federal facilities in New Mexico and California.

*Anonymous Parties (San Diego County Superior Court) -- Defended civil claims against a party related to allegations of assault and battery.

Professional Background.
Pieter O’Leary began his legal career at a boutique litigation firm in downtown San Diego representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of civil and criminal actions in state and federal court. During this time, he was honored to participate as a junior associate in a six-week multiple defendant criminal trial in federal court with some of San Diego’s top attorneys. O’Leary has gone on to successfully litigate a wide variety of legal matters in both state and federal court including construction lawsuits, breach of contract allegations, business disputes, as well as fraud, negligence and personal injury claims.

While in law school, O'Leary was a member of Law Review, served as a judicial extern to Associate Justice James A. McIntyre of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One, and was also a certified intern with the California Attorney General's Office in the Criminal Division - appeals, writs and trials section.

Professional Affiliations.
California Bar Association; District of Columbia Bar Association; San Diego County Bar Association; former volunteer with Volunteers In Parole (VIP Mentors), San Diego; and current volunteer with the Legal Aid Society of San Diego (immigration / naturalization).

Personal Background
O’Leary was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. When time permits, he enjoys hiking, swimming and cycling.

Hecht Solberg Robinson Goldberg & Bagley LLP

Marks Finch Thornton & Baird LLP

Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC

Kolodny & Pressman LLP

Fisch, Spiegler & Ginsburg APLC

Gordon & Rees Scully Mansukhani

Top Attorneys Emeritus

View our Top Attorneys Emeritus, attorneys who have been named finalists four years or more from 2009 through 2013.

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Deadlines

Nominations Open

February 10

Nominations Close

April 11

Sponsorship/Advertising Close

July 19

Publication Date

July 30

Reception

August 13

2014 Sponsors

Top Attorneys in the News

Under the leadership of Top Attorney Courtney Miklusak, the Career and Professional Development Office at California Western School of Law draws upon its counselor attorneys’ collective 65 years of legal experience to match highly qualified candidates with law clerk and attorney opportunities both within and beyond the San Diego market.

Boutique plaintiff’s litigation firm Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP relishes the tough cases. Senior partner David Casey, Jr. explains: “We are one of the few plaintiff’s firms with the resources to aggressively litigate high profile, complicated cases all the way from pre-filing discovery through appeals.”

The Damiani Law Group APC congratulates Associate Andrew Hillier for his recent selection by The Daily Transcript as one of San Diego’s top attorneys for 2014. In its July 30 edition, SDDT recognized Mr. Hillier for his outstanding work in the criminal defense field. Annually, the Transcript organizes a peer-voting process to determine the best lawyers in private, corporate, academic and government practice in San Diego County.

Fidelity National Title’s National Commercial Services Division provides a one-stop shop for national title and closing services. With more than 165 years of experience, our highly skilled underwriters and in-house counsel have the knowledge and capability to handle title and closing/settlement transactions across the nation.

Employers in San Diego and across the country are being flooded with interns this summer looking for work experience and that first “foot in the door” in competitive industries. For many interns and employers, payment tends to come in the form of academic credit or “life experience.” Few question this long-established practice. However, is it legal under federal or state wage and hour laws, or does the title of “intern” bestow upon it an exception?

Downtown San Diego law firm Kirby Noonan Lance & Hoge has stayed small yet strong on purpose, with skilled attorneys who are attentive and dedicated to clients of all sizes. The firm practices a variety of specialties, including real estate, intellectual property and professional liability litigation.

The first patent application or applications filed by a company can be the only opportunity to claim the most broad embodiments of a platform technology. To define the scope of what is invented, functional language often is employed in the claims, particularly where the invention is of pioneering nature, such that there is no prior art barring patentability. Such claiming strategy had been successfully employed for many years, but functional language no longer is accepted by patent offices in many jurisdictions. In the United States, such claims recently have been rejected or invalidated as not adequately described and/or not enabled. In other jurisdictions, claims are rejected as claiming by a result to be achieved.

Ronson Shamoun of RJS Law is not your typical attorney. With 15 years of tax experience, including 10 years in legal practice, he has helped thousands of clients find solutions to their civil and criminal tax matters with kindness and compassion at the center of his practice.

Shustak & Partners PC is an AV-rated law firm with offices in downtown San Diego, Irvine, San Francisco and New York. We are known for our extensive experience in securities and business litigation and arbitration. We represent broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, brokers, publicly traded companies, local businesses and high-net-worth individuals in a wide variety of securities and financial disputes, including securities and financial fraud claims, breach of contract claims and complex employment disputes.

On June 19, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its long-awaited decision in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, et al. The Court held that patent claims that are directed to an abstract idea are not patentable under 35 USC 101. Those in the software field will be relieved to know that software as a whole is still eligible for patent protection.

Aug. 13, 2014 -- Reporter Doug Sherwin speaks with attorney Mikel Bistrow, partner with Ballard Spahr LLP and a 2014 Top Attorney, about real estate finance and how it's changed over the past several years.